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Archiver > CEMETERY > 2000-03 > 0952715492


From: Lawrence Kestenbaum <>
Subject: Re: [Old Bones CEMETERY-L] Civil War battlefield
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 14:11:32 -0500 (EST)


On Sun, 5 Mar 2000, Ernie & Connie wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> Contact area Legislators about including the battlefield in the National
> Registry of Historic Places. That would stop the gravel co. in their tracks.

Um, no. Not unless the gravel company is federally funded.

The National Register has no enforcement powers -- indeed, it was designed
that way. It's supposed to be a "planning tool" so that federal projects
like highways and airports can know about and hopefully minimize their
impact on historic resources. Federal laws require agencies receiving or
disbursing federal funds to take account of and at least consider the
impact of their activities on National Register listed properties.

(National Register status is also used for federal tax benefits, such as
the tax credit for rehabilitation of a historic structure, provided it's
income-producing. Developers who want to rehab historic buildings will
often seek National Register status for them so that they are eligible for
the federal tax credit.)

In general, only states and local governments have laws or regulations
that protect privately owned historic resources from destruction. If Ohio
doesn't, and Meigs County and the applicable municipality don't, then that
is that.

If you think that your local government should have a preservation
ordinance to protect historic buildings or sites, you should not wait to
raise the issue until some important historic landmark faces imminent
doom. Contact the SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) in your
state for detailed information.

It is a community decision to enact that kind of law, and the required
study and hearings take a lot of time -- probably two or three years from
start to finish. Of course, all the studies and hearings in the world
will be for naught if the community doesn't develop a consensus in favor
of having an ordinance at all.

To paraphrase Tip O'Neill, all historic preservation is local. With rare
exceptions, the impetus and funding for keeping a historic building or
site have to come from the people in its community. Or, to mention
another truisim, ignore your community's heritage, and it will go away.

---
Lawrence Kestenbaum,
The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.co

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